Posts by Brent Ozar

Brent Ozar

2446 posts

https://www.brentozar.com

I make Microsoft SQL Server go faster. I love teaching, travel, cars, and laughing. I'm based out of Las Vegas. He/him.

How to Get Paid to Take a Cruise

Last Updated February 9, 2017

Brent Ozar

Writing and Presenting

As a database expert, I regularly travel to speak at conferences. When I travel, I try to time my trips to take advantage of other opportunities to see sights, visit friends, or relax. When my speaking schedule put me in South Florida last summer, I thought I’d take a cruise out of Miami afterwards. SQLCruise…

RAID 0 SATA with 2 Drives: It’s Web Scale!

Last Updated March 4, 2011

Brent Ozar

Before I start with this sordid tale of low scalability, I want to thank the guys at Phusion for openly discussing the challenges they’re having with Union Station. They deserve applause and hugs for being transparent with their users. Today, they wrote about their scaling issues. That article deserves a good read, but I’m going…

The Microsoft MVP Summit

Last Updated February 25, 2011

Brent Ozar

Next week, Microsoft MVPs from around the world will be gathering in Redmond at the Microsoft campus. This will be my second MVP Summit, and I wanted to give you a peek into what happens at this private event. Next week, you’ll probably be hearing people tweet about how excited (or angry) they are, and…

Five Favorite Free SQL Server Downloads

Last Updated August 14, 2013

Brent Ozar

SQL Server

So you’re lazy and you’re company’s broke – what to do? Here’s my favorite free downloads to help manage SQL Server: Understand execution plans with SQL Sentry Plan Explorer – I dunno about you, but viewing execution plans in SQL Server Management Studio is a pain in my rear. The scrolling sucks, the cost numbers…

Consulting Lines: “What happens if that doesn’t work?”

Last Updated February 12, 2017

Brent Ozar

Consulting Lines

Companies don’t bring me in when things are going great and everything’s working flawlessly, oh no. As a consultant, I’ve seen lot of ways that things can fail. If a tree falls in a forest and there’s no one around to see it, the owner’s probably going to call a consultant afterward to find out…

Scaling up or scaling out?

Last Updated September 15, 2021

Brent Ozar

SQL Server

When you need SQL Server to handle more load, there’s two big-picture ways to do it: Scale up – use a more powerful SQL Server Scale out – use more SQL Servers Quick disclaimer first – before you try either of these solutions, the easiest thing is to circumvent the whole problem – don’t ask…

The Joys of Tech Editing

Last Updated February 10, 2011

Brent Ozar

I like tech editing because it sharpens my skills. I think of it as honing my BS detector. When I read something that surprises me, I’m forced to go dig much deeper into SQL Server to find the real truth. I can’t just call someone’s work wrong – I have to be able to prove…

Consulting Lines: “Yes, that used to be a best practice, and…”

Last Updated February 12, 2017

Brent Ozar

Consulting Lines

One of the cool things about working with an established product like SQL Server is that there’s a ton of knowledge out there. The intertubes are chock full of advice about how to manage all kinds of problems. Unfortunately, some of them are flat out wrong. They may not have started out wrong – they…

How to Ask Your Boss for Training Money

Last Updated September 22, 2019

Brent Ozar

Professional Development

“I’m scared. Hold me.” I hear that all the time from people who want to go to a conference or a training class. They’re terrified to walk into The Boss’s office because The Boss only says one word: “No.” Here’s some easy ways to start the conversation, handle objections, and seal the deal. The Opening…

Consulting Lines: “Would you mind driving?”

Last Updated February 12, 2017

Brent Ozar

Consulting Lines

We nicknamed one of our favorite project managers “The Bus Driver.” She didn’t throw people under the bus herself, but she ran over many a reputation. If you didn’t know what you were doing, you didn’t want to be anywhere near her bus route, because she wasn’t hitting the brakes on her project for any…

Snowpocalypse Webcams in Chicago (Now offline)

Last Updated February 3, 2011

Brent Ozar

For the folks from out of town, I’ve set up public access for my webcam. Here’s a live shot of Snowpocalypse 2011: Live Snowpocalypse Webcam Just kidding. Here’s the real webcams: (Update Feb 3 – now offline since the snowpocalypse is over.) The username is operator, password operator. Here’s shots as of 1PM so you…

Apple MacBook Air 2011 13″ Review

Last Updated June 28, 2011

Brent Ozar

As I was finishing recording the Microsoft Certified Master videos last month, my beloved and well-traveled MacBook Pro started giving me fits. It survived three very rough years on the road, encoding HD videos at home, and running multiple simultaneous heavy-load VMs. I was really pleased that it lasted as long as it did, but…

Consulting Lines: “Sounds like you’ve got it all under control.”

Last Updated February 12, 2017

Brent Ozar

Consulting Lines

For us geeks, the hardest part about consulting isn’t the technology. Technology’s easy. I know when I poke SQL Server a certain way, it’s going to respond a certain way. That part of consulting is predictable and reliable. The Techie The hardest part is the people. I’ve been consulting part time for years, and the…

Book Review: Applied Architecture Patterns on the Microsoft Platform

Last Updated February 13, 2017

Brent Ozar

Book Reviews

I usually hate architecture books. I can’t stand ’em. Seems like every one I’ve ever read has been targeted at architecture astronauts – people who spend all their time talking theory, not practice. Applied Architecture Patterns on the Microsoft Platform This book is different. Reading this book is like having drinks in the pub with…

Pimp My MCM Certificate Contest Winner

Last Updated February 12, 2017

Brent Ozar

Humor, Microsoft Certified Master (MCM)

Wow – you guys are creative! I got a lot of laughs out of the contest entries, and here’s some of the highlights. Doug Lane certified Admiral Ackbar as a Master of Trap Recognition and Countermeasures: Michael Swart captured the essence of what it feels like when Microsoft says you actually passed: Robert Davis got…

Three Questions You Should Never Ask Software Vendors

Last Updated January 7, 2011

Brent Ozar

So your manager’s got some money burning a hole in her budget, and she wants you to go out and buy a management or monitoring tool. Don’t ask, “How much overhead does this software have?” Asking this question is a lot like saying, “Gosh, I sure would like to read a book to learn, but…

MCM Certificate Photoshop Contest

Last Updated January 11, 2011

Brent Ozar

The SQL MCMs just got access to digital copies of our achievement certificates, and you know what that means. Pimp My MCM It’s time for some good old fashioned plagiarism! Whip out that Photoshop and show me what you’ve got. Change the name, the signature, the cert, the product, whatever you think most needs to…

How to Rehearse a Presentation

Last Updated December 1, 2012

Brent Ozar

Writing and Presenting

Buck Woody (Blog – @BuckWoody) and I did a presentation at the PASS Summit called, “You’re Not Attractive, But Your Presentations Can Be.” The audience asked a lot of good questions, and I wanted to recap some of ’em as blog posts. The first one – and one of the most frequent questions I get…

Free SQL Server Training Videos from SQLbits

Last Updated January 23, 2011

Brent Ozar

I am so screwed. I’ve got an iPad full of PASS Summit 2010 recorded sessions that I need to watch, and now the guys at SQLbits go and release all of their videos for free too. I’m never gonna catch up. Not only can you watch the SQLbits sessions live over the web, but you…

Goals? Where we’re going, we don’t need goals.

Last Updated December 30, 2010

Brent Ozar

Denis Gobo tagged me in his post about his 2010 goals, and challenged a few of us to gauge our success for 2010 too by revealing our yearly goals and how we did. I should have seen it coming, because he tagged me on this before. I’m all over the Getting Things Done philosophy, which…